{"id":35004,"date":"2023-12-21T19:13:46","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T11:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/?p=35004"},"modified":"2026-03-11T11:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:21:07","slug":"day-14-matsumoto-daio-wasabi-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/2023\/12\/21\/day-14-matsumoto-daio-wasabi-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 14 @ Matsumoto \u2013 Daio Wasabi Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 14 today was originally planned for our snowshoe hike trip. But the guide we engaged alerted us a few days ago that snowfall in the area was lower than expected this week, so the missus asked if he could swap our trip date to Day 15 instead. As it turned out, our Day 15 was for a visit to the Daio Wasabi Farm \u2014 a spot we could go to anytime \u2014 so we made the switch.<\/p>\n

The Daio Wasabi Farm<\/strong> is in Nagano prefecture, and is \u2014 apparently \u2014 one of the largest in Japan at 15 hectares, and made famous in one of famed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s films. The farm is actually pretty near Matsumoto, but we had to research a fair bit to figure out how to get to the farm from the nearest train station. There is a bus service that starts from Matsumoto Bus Terminal northwards to somewhere near the farm, but the bus journey is almost 90 minutes long for the fairly short journey of about 15km. So we opted for a train ride, which surprisingly doesn’t show up as a suggested route on Google Maps.<\/p>\n

Basically, our journey was:<\/p>\n

1. Catch a train for a 30-minute ride from Matsumoto Station to Hotaka Station. The ride was relatively sparse in commuters on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

2. At Hotaka Station, take a 6-minute cab ride that costs around 1,400 yen. The Tourist Information counter at a brown brick building opposite Hotaka Station sells a taxi fare with a return coupon at 2,700 yen. You only need to show this to any taxi waiting at Hotaka Station, and the driver will bring you to the farm. He’d also tear off one of the coupon stubs each way. For the return journey, the farm’s information counter will assist to call a return cab for you.<\/p>\n

There is apparently also a shuttle bus service that runs between Hotaka Station and the farm, but it was not in operation when we visited.<\/p>\n

There is no admission charge into the farm itself, and there were few visitors. Well, mostly \u2014 because there was a busload of noisy tourists from that country up north who made their presence felt throughout. But once they left, the overall serenity of the farm visit returned. There is a very helpful large brochure with a detailed guide to the farm, and also suggested walking paths. You can’t get lost in the farm, and if you intend to do the full walking circuit, about a 90-minute visit would suffice.<\/p>\n

The weather was chilly though, but thankfully the earlier forecast snowfall was very light. The occasional wind did make things pretty cold.<\/p>\n

Pictures and comments from this morning’s visit!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Arriving into Hotaka Station. The distance from Matsumoto Station isn’t that far \u2014 around 15km \u2014 but the train ride is about 30 minutes as it stops at several stations for several minutes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Tourist Information Booth just opposite the train station. Staffed by several lovely ladies who spoke English. We bought the taxi coupons here with return at 2700 yen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The front entrance. The souvenir and gift shop is on the left, and the information booth on the right. Staff inside will assist to call for a cab for your return back to Hotaka Station after your visit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The very friendly and sociable house cat!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The North Field.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Information board that explains what wasabi is.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Bridge of Happiness. Daio Field is on the right. Winter season does make the area look a little uninteresting. From the brochure, it looks fabulously colourful in warmer weather.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The pavilion on the bridge is a photo spot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Leaves of the wasabi plant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Steps leading up to the Daiosama Lookout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The bridge is an interesting feature for photos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Information board explaining the water irrigation system in the farm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Looking down at the North Field from the Alps Lookout Path.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Tade River, which runs along one side of the farm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Watermills, and one of the highlights for a visit. The three watermills weren’t running this morning though.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The gift and souvenir shop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Wasabi Lemon macarons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Wasabi Soy Sauce Dressing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Wasabi Miso.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fresh wasabi, with different pricing because \u2014 I’m assuming \u2014 of grade and size.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Graters and grating boards to work on the wasabi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The farm sits facing a mountain range.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In all, this was a sedate and peaceful visit, and it was refreshing to walk through the farm routes, albeit in chilly weather. This is a must-visit if you love the spice, but if not, and you’re not in the general area, then whether the trouble of making your way to this farm is worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 14 today was originally planned for our snowshoe hike trip. But the guide we engaged alerted us a few days ago that snowfall in the area was lower than expected this week, so the missus asked if he could<\/p>\n

Read More Day 14 @ Matsumoto \u2013 Daio Wasabi Farm<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[677],"class_list":["post-35004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-traveling","tag-chubu-kanto-japan-2023","wpcat-17-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/blog-2023-japan-day-14-20231221_094132.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35004"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38279,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35004\/revisions\/38279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}